Submitted by Wojciech K. Jarosz on Wed, 02/07/2018 - 15:50

Dartmouth News is running a story about our very own Prof. Andrew Campbell's experience during his year-long leave at Google.

From the story:

Campbell took a year’s leave from the Department of Computer Science last year to step into the fast lane at Google, writing software and looking for new ideas. He also wanted to see how Dartmouth’s computer science curriculum stacked up against the needs of industry. To do that, he took off the mantle of academia and became a software engineer again. “I got back to my roots and spent a year writing code. It was a grounding experience,” he says.

“We sit in our ivory tower, a bit disconnected from what’s going on in the real world, and I wondered how rusty we were in terms of the topics we teach and the research we do, and whether it is really relevant,” he says. What he found was both validating—many alumni now work at Google, for example—and illuminating.

Submitted by Wojciech K. Jarosz on Fri, 01/19/2018 - 14:21

Julia Dressel ’17 and Professor Hany Farid caution that the computer algorithms may be no more accurate at predicting recidivism than people with no criminal justice experience. “What we’ve shown should give the courts some pause,” Farid tells The Atlantic.

Submitted by Wojciech K. Jarosz on Fri, 12/01/2017 - 14:54

Hany Farid has just been elected an IEEE Fellow “for seminal contributions to the field of photo-forensics and its application to fighting the exploitation of children around the globe.”

Hany is being recognized for his research in image analysis and digital forensics, a field he pioneered at Dartmouth. Among many other things, Hany has developed mathematical and computational techniques to determine whether images, videos, or audio recordings have been altered. A noteworthy application was Hany's forensic analysis that demonstrated the authenticity of a controversial photograph of Lee Harvey Oswald holding the alleged assassination rifle. Hany also helped develop a system to find and remove online images pertaining to child exploitation, and is developing a system to scrub the internet of extremist-related content.

“Hany’s research is both technically groundbreaking and incredibly impactful,” says Interim Provost David Kotz ’86, the Champion International Professor in the Department of Computer Science. “Congratulations to him. This is a great honor.”

Submitted by Wojciech K. Jarosz on Mon, 11/27/2017 - 10:57

“What is truth?” asked Pontius Pilate at the trial of Jesus Christ. You’d think that in the past two millennia we’d have gotten better at knowing, but technology is a two-edged sword in this respect. “The forensics guy and the forger share similar skillsets,” says Hany Farid, a professor of computer science at Dartmouth College who is one of the foremost experts on unraveling the digital mazes constructed to conceal or alter images and sound. And tools of the trade that once belonged to the hacker are now available at the app store.

Submitted by Wojciech K. Jarosz on Sun, 11/05/2017 - 14:10

Social media platforms had to answer to Congress for the part it played in Russian influence in the 2016 elections. Dartmouth computer science professor Hany Farid talks about the tools Facebook, Twitter and Google can use to stop foreign interference in the future.

Submitted by Wojciech K. Jarosz on Thu, 09/21/2017 - 08:53

Sex trafficking is a growing problem that has moved from the street to the smart phone. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)reports an 846 percent increase in reports of suspected child sex trafficking from 2010 to 2015, which it found to be “directly correlated to the increased use of the Internet to sell children for sex.” Victims of illegal sex trafficking have found it difficult to seek justice in the courts due to the blanket liability protection provided in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) to technology companies that host sites that facilitate sex trafficking, even when it’s been found that those sites actively and knowingly facilitated the criminal sex trafficking of vulnerable women and young girls, and covered up evidence of the crimes.

Submitted by Wojciech K. Jarosz on Thu, 08/17/2017 - 13:26

Xia Zhou has been named one of N2Women's "Rising Stars in Networking and Communications" this year. The "N2Women: Rising Stars in Networking and Communications” list is an annual list that focuses on amazing women at the beginning of their careers.

Of course we at Dartmouth already knew this of Xia, but its nice to know others agree!

For 2017, in alphabetical order (by last name), here are the 10 N2Women: Rising Stars in Networking and Communications:

Submitted by Wojciech K. Jarosz on Wed, 08/02/2017 - 14:43

It turns out humans aren’t very good at recognizing when an image has been manipulated, even if the change is fairly substantial. Hany Farid talks with Popular Science, sharing a few tips for authenticating images on your own.

Submitted by Wojciech K. Jarosz on Thu, 07/06/2017 - 14:58

V.S. Subrahmanian—whose work in data science and cybersecurity has been used to accurately forecast the behavior of terrorist networks, detect bots on social media platforms, prevent rhinoceros poaching, and much more—has been named the inaugural Dartmouth College Distinguished Professor in Cybersecurity, Technology, and Society, beginning Aug. 1.

The position is the senior appointment to the new Academic Cluster in Cybersecurity, Technology, and Society—part of President Phil Hanlon ’77’s academic initiative to extend Dartmouth’s impact on critical global challenges through the creation of 10 interdisciplinary groups focused on issues from health care delivery to engineering in the Arctic to the challenges and opportunities of globalization. In 2014, the College received a $100 million gift from an anonymous donor, half of which was used as a match toward creation of the academic clusters. Another gift from an anonymous donor is funding professorships, including Subrahmanian’s, within the cybersecurity cluster.

Dartmouth's capacity to advance its dual mission of education and research depends upon the full diversity and inclusivity of this community. We must increase diversity, particularly among our faculty and staff. As we do so, we must also create a community in which every individual, regardless of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, disability, nationality, political or religious views, or position within the institution, is respected. On this close-knit and intimate campus, we must ensure that every person knows that he, she, or they is a valued member of our community.